The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1887-05-19
RALEIGH, N. c., MAY 10, 1887.

ly and luxuriantly in our land. He
wanted Mr. S. Otho Wilson, who had
made the grape a special study, to tell
us something about the grape.
Mr.. Wilson first exhibited plums
and peaches which had been stung by
the Curculio, and handed around
specimens of the little beetle to be ex-
amined He gave it's habits and told
how he gnarded against it's propagation
and ravages. He then took from lot
of grape vines at hand, specimen of
a young vine, and showed how to
prune the roots and top, and
how to put it in the ground; then a
vine of the second year, then one of
the third year, attached to the stake
and trimmed it, SO as to show the
whole process. It was an exceedingly
interesting object lesson. The prun-
ing should be done at any time, from
the falling of the leaf in the fall, to
the beginning of the growing season.
For Central Carolina he recommends
the Concord, the Ivis, the Martha,
Perkins and Champion.
He puts the vines seven feet apart
each way. Last year on land that
would not produce more three-fourths
of bale of cotton he produced 1000
pounds of grapes. The expense of
cultivating the grape per acre does not
exceed that of %cotton Cultivates
thoroughly and rapidly until about
three weeks before ripening.
Mr.. Shellman gave, in reply to an
inquiry, his earnings in grape culture,
which we're $537, on four acres
DR.. Dabney was called on to show
what are the remedies for
black-rot or mildew in grapes.
He said that happily for grape growers
remedy whic7 is almost a specific had
been found and its base is sulphate of
copper He had the latest improved
apparatus for spraying the vines with
the solution and showed how it oper-
ated This is the second machine of
the kind in the United States; the
other one is owned by the Department
of Agriculture at Washington He
gave the formula formaking the so1u-
ton and many other important and
interesting facts to show that grape
growers can now protect their vines
from class of casualties which have
puzzled the grape growers for centu-
ries.
Mr.. Wilson brought forward straw
berry plants and showed how to man
age them. Said if man had no
land he could still have strawberries.
He could fill barrel or hogshead with
good rich earth and bore l IL or 2
inch auger holes in the sides; in these
holes plant the strawberry plants and
water them from the top. They will
grow and bear luxuriantly.
The chairman then referred in very
handsome terms to our Governor,
whom he was proud to see. present,
and was glad, in the name Of the
farmers of the State, to welcome him
and to introduce him to the audience.
Gov. Scales, congratulated DR..
Parker, and through him, the farmers
of the State, on the auspicious out
look for the agricultural interests of
the State. [ am proud, he said, to
see so many evidences Of an awaken
ing among the farmers of the State,
and glad to see these Institutes
so encouraged and patronized by the
farmers. It is a movement in the
right direction. He was not a prac-
tical farmer but he owned farms, which
had brought him at least ten per cent.
on his investment, and he did not be-
lieve that there is farm in
the State which would not yield ten
per cent, if we'll worked. But the
great trouble is that the farm does not
have that attention and thought that
other interests do. He appealed to
the young men to take farming as a
vocation, and study it, and work
it faithfully and intelligently. How
many of you advise your sons to pull
off their coats and go to the farm 2
Teach that work; work is the founda-
ton of success in all departments of
life. He was proud to see the inau-
guration of movement which must
and will revolutionize public senti-
ment among the young and old farm
ers, and which he fondly hoped would
show the young men that agriculture